The base sales tax rate in Georgia is 4%, but this does not universally apply to the whole state of Georgia, in fact, there are a variety of different sales tax rates depending on the county you are in. So, the way Georgia’s sales tax is calculated is the base rate of 4% Georgia sales tax throughout the whole state plus the additional percentage rate each county charges, equals the total Georgia sales tax rate you will pay or have to collect from your customers if you are a business.
Any retail, gas station/convenience store, or restaurant-related business you visit in Georgia should charge you the prevailing rate of Georgia’s sales tax according to the county they are located in, and this also includes accommodations such as hotels and motels. While paying sales tax is mostly applicable to the sale of products, it does also apply to some service-related businesses such as hotels, taxi and limo services, sale of admissions, and charges for participation in games and amusement activities. If you are unsure whether your business should collect Georgia sales tax, you may want to visit the Georgia Department of Revenue website.
So, paying Georgia’s sales tax as a consumer is a seamless process that you do not need to worry too much about when visiting a restaurant or retail store, booking a hotel, or taking your car in for a service. On the other hand, as a business owner or someone looking to start a business in Georgia, it is a whole different matter. If you are responsible for collecting sales tax from your customers, you need to know exactly what your responsibilities are, and you need to follow the rules of Georgia sales tax collection, making sure you pay the State of Georgia each month for the total amount of Georgia sales tax you collect. In some instances, this may apply to online businesses, and if you participate in the Amazon FBA program, you may be subject to sales tax collection.
Georgia Sales Tax Rate
As mentioned previously, the base rate of sales tax in Georgia is 4%, but the average range of Georgia sales tax, including the county sales tax rate, is 6-9%. For your convenience, we have included a table (below) that lists the Georgia sales tax rate for each county within the state. The table combines the base rate of 4% and the local county rate to give you a total tax rate for each county.
Georgia has a lot of different counties, 159 in total, and has the second-largest number of counties in the U.S., with only Texas having more (254 counties). The Georgia sales tax rate for most counties is 3-4%, which means that most counties, when combined with Georgia’s sales tax rate, are in the 7-8% range. Currently, the highest rate of sales tax in Georgia is in Fulton County and Dekalb County, but just in the areas that fall within the city of Atlanta. The sales tax rate for these counties in Atlanta is 8.9%.
What you will find in the U.S., which is different from some other countries, is that when you see the price of a product such as a t-shirt in a retail store, or food on a menu in a restaurant, is it usually plus state and county sales tax. So, when you checkout your items in a store or request the bill (check) at a restaurant, you will likely pay the price you saw on the label or on the menu + state and county sales tax. This often takes foreigners and those not used to this system by surprise because, in many other countries, the price you see is the price you pay, and the price quoted includes any sales tax or value-added tax (VAT).
Georgia Sales Tax
To get a basic understanding of how Georgia imposes a state sales and use tax on most products and some services purchased in the state you can make a quick calculation of the amount of Georgia sales tax you will pay based on the product price and sales tax rate charged within the county you are purchasing from.
So, if you are paying Fulton County sales tax, the rate would be 7.75% if you are not in the city of Atlanta, or, if you are in Atlanta, then it would be 8.9%. A $100 product/purchase would cost you $107.75 in Fulton County but outside of Atlanta, and $108.90 if you are purchasing something within Atlanta city limits.
State of Georgia Sales Tax for Businesses
There is specific terminology surrounding whether, as a business, you need to collect Georgia sales tax. This is called “Sales Tax Nexus.” It basically means, does your business have a “significant presence” in the state. Any of the following criteria are considered by the state of Georgia as qualifying a seller to have sales tax nexus:
- An office or place of business in Georgia
- An employee that works within the state of Georgia
- Independent contractors or representatives (usually paid on 1099) that work for you in Georgia
- Goods that are housed in a warehouse in Georgia
- Delivery of merchandise in Georgia that is typically done via the businesses own fleet of vehicles (i.e., through your own delivery drivers)
- Ownership of real or personal property
- Economic nexus (i.e., your sales or transactions into the state of Georgia mean you are subject to the state’s economic nexus rule)
To learn exactly what the Georgia Department of Revenue determines to be sales tax nexus in Georgia, head over to their website and see what businesses this applies to and what you are expected to collect from your customers.
Sales Tax in Georgia by County
The table below lists the 159 Georgia counties that charge sales tax within the state. Georgia’s sales tax is based on the base rate plus the county rate and any other special exceptions, so the rates below are indicative of the total Georgia sales tax you will pay or have to collect from your customers.
| Georgia Sales Tax Rates by County | Total Georgia Sales Tax Rate | Georgia State Sales Tax Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Appling County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Atkinson County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Bacon County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Baker County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Baldwin County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Banks County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Barrow County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Bartow County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Ben Hill County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Berrien County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Bibb County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Bleckley County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Brantley County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Brooks County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Bryan County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Bulloch County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Burke County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Butts County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Calhoun County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Camden County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Candler County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Carroll County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Catoosa County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Charlton County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Chatham County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Chattahoochee County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Chattooga County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Cherokee County Sales Tax | 6% | 4% |
| Clarke County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Clay County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Clayton County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Clinch County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Cobb County Sales Tax | 6% | 4% |
| Coffee County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Colquitt County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Columbia County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Cook County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Coweta County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Crawford County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Crisp County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Dade County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Dawson County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Decatur County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| DeKalb County Sales Tax (not in Atlanta) | 8% | 4% |
| Dekalb County Sales Tax (in Atlanta) | 8.9% | 4% |
| Dodge County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Dooly County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Dougherty County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Douglas County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Early County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Echols County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Effingham County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Elbert County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Emanuel County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Evans County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Fannin County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Fayette County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Floyd County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Forsyth County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Franklin County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Fulton County Sales Tax (not in Atlanta) | 7.75% | 4% |
| Fulton County Sales Tax (in Atlanta) | 8.9% | 4% |
| Gilmer County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Glascock County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Glynn County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Gordon County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Grady County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Greene County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Gwinnett County Sales Tax | 6% | 4% |
| Habersham County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Hall County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Hancock County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Haralson County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Harris County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Hart County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Heard County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Henry County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Houston County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Irwin County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Jackson County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Jasper County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Jeff Davis County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Jefferson County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Jenkins County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Johnson County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Jones County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Lamar County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Lanier County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Laurens County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Lee County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Liberty County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Lincoln County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Long County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Lowndes County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Lumpkin County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Macon County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Madison County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Marion County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| McDuffie County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| McIntosh County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Meriwether County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Miller County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Mitchell County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Monroe County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Montgomery County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Morgan County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Murray County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Muscogee County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Newton County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Oconee County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Oglethorpe County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Paulding County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Peach County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Pickens County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Pierce County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Pike County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Polk County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Pulaski County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Putnam County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Quitman County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Rabun County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Randolph County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Richmond County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Rockdale County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Schley County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Screven County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Seminole County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Spalding County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Stephens County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Stewart County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Sumter County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Talbot County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Taliaferro County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Tattnall County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Taylor County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Telfair County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Terrell County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Thomas County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Tift County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Toombs County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Towns County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Treutlen County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Troup County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Turner County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Twiggs County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Union County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Upson County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Walker County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Walton County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Ware County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Warren County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Washington County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Wayne County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Webster County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Wheeler County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| White County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Whitfield County Sales Tax | 6% | 4% |
| Wilcox County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Wilkes County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
| Wilkinson County Sales Tax | 7% | 4% |
| Worth County Sales Tax | 8% | 4% |
Georgia Tax Center Contact Details
Most communication with the Georgia Tax Center can be conducted through their online services, via telephone, or through designated secure lockbox locations. Here are the main contact methods:
Department of Revenue (DOR) Headquarters
1800 Century Boulevard NE
Atlanta, GA 30345
Telephone: 1-877-423-6711
Website: https://gtc.dor.ga.gov/_/
Various online services are available 24/7 on the website, including electronically filing a return, making a payment, setting up payment plans, checking the status of a refund, or making a general inquiry on your account.
